Task #14 - Visit Namibia

It's been a while since I could check something off my bucket list but I finally managed! My parents and I visited Namibia this July! We did a driving tour for 2 weeks working our way from Fish River Canyon all the way around to Windhoek. We had an amazing time! We had multiple run-ins with baboons, an ostrich ran into our car, and we found a dead gemsbok (oryx - see pics below)! It was an awesome trip and we met so many friendly people along the way. It is a beautiful country with gorgeous landscape! Make sure you put this one on your bucket list!

This is the dead gemsbok!

Fish River!

Fish River Canyon

Sossusvlei

Sossusvlei

Cape Cross

Vingerklip

Vingerklip

Wild Dogs

Etosha

Etosha

Etosha

Etosha

During the two weeks, we had to change tyres, three times, and one of those times we were in the middle of the safari/game park! Exactly 100m from where we had previously seen a male lion!

We had an amazing trip - Namibia is truly a special one-of-a-kind country!

These are the places we stayed at if you are keen to visit:

Canon Lodge - Fish River

A Little Sossus Lodge - Sossusvlei

Meike's Guesthouse - Swakopmund

Twyfelfontein Country Lodge - Damaraland

Vingerklip Lodge - Damaraland

Okaukuejo Resort - Etosha

Waterberg Plateau Lodge - Waterberg

Hotel Safari - Windhoek

Task #13 - Spend New Years Eve in Sydney

It sounds weird, doesn't it? I am Australian so why have I never seen the Sydney NYE Fireworks in person? Who knows, but this year I put my foot down and thought that 2013 should start properly - which in my mind is; a glass of champagne, camera in hand, looking over the entire Sydney Harbour and City counting down to midnight.

Sydney definitely knows how to begin a New Year! There were the preliminary fireworks for the kids at 9pm and then the important ones at midnight! It was a terrific place to be and the fireworks were great. Some of them were being let off from the tops of buildings, the harbour bridge, and barges along the river.

The theme this year was "embrace" and the key colours of the fireworks were yellow, red, and crimson. It was fun and most definitely a good way to start 2013 off! Let's hope the rest of the year is just as awesome! Happy New Year to everyone!

Task #12 - Be Published

I, honestly thought this one would NEVER happen! Or at least not now! I study interior design and my only real chance of ever being published was if I wrote a book for fun, on the side, or if I eventual ended up writing for an interior design magazine.

Yesterday, my first article was published in an English Property/Design magazine that is distributed throughout all of Spain & the Islands. Such a surreal feeling! For this article I was asked to write about a local interior design company called UDesign- who create some very innovative furnitures and interior spaces for their clients.

Now this one has been published and I'm working on the next one is an 8 page spread where I get to do the layout as well. It's very exciting!

To see the magazine online follow this link, the article is on page 50: 
http://issuu.com/sunsearchmedia/docs/perfect_homes_2_edition_lowresfor_web

Task #11 - Visit Ireland

I've always been fascinated with the thought of Ireland. A different country to visit, with a lot of culture and history, and even more beer! In my mind it is the land of green pastures, leprechauns, Guinness, & pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I traveled to Dublin this weekend to see if any of that was true. It was amazing! The Irish celebrate Christmas in the most amazing way and Dublin is such a vibrant, historical city. There was Christmas lights on every corner and so many people dress up in some very ridiculous costumes to celebrate this festive time of year! I saw this one girl who had spiked her hair up into a cone, spray painted it green and then covered it in tinsel & lights - it was awesome!

Basically my time in Dublin was spent walking, being in awe of the amount of shops they have there, looking at the Christmas lights, and also drinking Guinness! It is a beautiful city, although a tad chilly, but it is filled with surprises on every turn.

I wish I could've spent more time there exploring the countryside. I caught a glimpse of it when flying in and out of Dublin and it is very green so it lived up to my expectations! :)

Next time I go back, I'll be on the hunt for a leprechaun and that pot of gold!

Task #10 - Swim With Sharks

This task, I thought, was never going to get accomplished because my mother would never allow me to dive with a predator around. However, this time she willingly allowed me to do so as it was in a controlled environment :)

So, on a recent trip down to Cape Town I went diving in the Aquarium with five ragged-tooth sharks, also known as gray nurse sharks. There has never been any fatal attacks on humans from these sharks, but there have been attacks.... I went into the tank with only the dive master and got to spend 30 minutes with the sharks, as well as stingrays, turtles, and a whole bunch of fish! It was awesome!

The dive master allowed the sharks to come super close to me, I think at one point, one shark was only 15cm away from my head. It was a little bit nerve-wracking but it was such an amazing experience......

I'm so excited I managed to get this one checked off my bucket list, and so far it has been my favourite experience..... <3

Task #9 - Go On A Road Trip

Hey Bloggers! I'm sorry I haven't been posting things in a while, been a tad busy. But one of my latest ventures that I can remove from my bucket list is to go on a road trip!

My boyfriend and I decided to go and check out the Drakensberg region of South Africa. It's about halfway between Johannesburg and Durban and it's a massive mountain range. So it's ideal for outdoor people! :)

We decided to spend five days there and stay in different places along the way so we could see and experience as much as possible! Our plan was to stay at the Amphitheatre (cool mountain lodge place) the first night, then move down to Champagne Valley, and finally end up in Mooi River!

The plan did work, for the most part - it decided to snow! Normally the snowy week happens in July, but of course this year it decided to happen in August. ALL of the highways were closed once we got to our checkpoint at Harrismith.... Including the important main highways from Joburg to Durban.... It was crazy. We quickly booked ourselves into an inn in Harrismith and then made plans with our other accomodation to scoot everything back by a day. So it was a great start! But still, it was awesome, especially to see SNOW in AFRICA!!!! :)

The next morning we woke up to find that most of the roads were still closed but we managed to take back routes to the Amphitheatre! We spent a freezing night up in the mountains, but it was beautiful! :) Looked so much like the Alps! The following morning we decided to go on a hike up the Amphitheatre, because of the snow the hiking trail wasn't cleared properly, so we were literally walking in each others footprints on the edge of a very high mountain!!! I was scared, I won't lie!

After surviving we made our way through Champagne Valley and then finally reached Mooi River. We stayed at this beautiful lodge where the rooms are actually individual treehouses! :) Upon arriving, we were told that because of the 1m of snow, there was no electricity or water.... we had food and candles, so it was a fun night, consisting of candlelit dinner and flashlight billards :) But it was beautiful, our treehouse had an unobstructed view of the Drakensberg and it was magnificent....

 
Needless to say, it wasn't the trip we were expecting with a few issues and delays, but it was so worth it. The Drakensberg looks so much better with snow!!!! 

Task #8 - See the Gorillas

If you believe in evolution you will believe that humans are directly related to apes.

I got the privilege this year (July 2012) to see the endangered Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda! What an experience! There are only about 700 gorillas left in the wild and they are very well conserved. In the national park in Rwanda where you can find these gorillas only 80 people are allowed in per day to track various gorilla families of which only 8 people are in each group. Once you find these massive animals, one gets only an hour to take as many Kodak memories as possible!

My family and I tracked the Agashya group. Consisting of about 25 members all up and one set of one year old twins! And they are exactly like how the youngsters in Tarzan where - rolling around, climbing trees, eating, etc. There is one silverback in the group and eight adult females (greedy silverback!). I felt like Jane, just without the yellow dress, umbrella, and high heels!

They are beautiful, calm creatures - there only tasks in life is to eat, sleep, and play! Not a bad life to live. Watching them in their natural habitat was extraordinary, especially knowing that these apes might not be around in 50 years... Its daunting but so magical. A once in a lifetime experience (because thats all our wallets can handle!), but so worth it, just to see such a powerful and famous animal without any cages or fencing in-between (literally 5m away from the family!)

 

Make sure bloggers that you put this one on your bucket list, its worth it! Till next time :)